Oregon land use news: Metolius and Measure 49

A thumbs-up and a thumbs-down on the land use front this blogging day…

On the positive side, we just got the Spring 2009 "View from the Summit" Crag Law Center newsletter.

Our neighborhood has gotten terrific legal support from Ralph Bloemers and other Crag staff in our fight against a Measure 37 subdivision that threatened to dry up wells and a community lake in this groundwater limited area.

Ralph and fellow attorney Courtney Johnson wrote an excellent piece, "Learning Lessons from Oregon's Experiment with Measure 37." It focuses on how Measure 49, which restored much-needed fairness and balance to the state's land use system, is being implemented.
Download Crag Measure 37 article

Note the photograph in the top right. I took it.

Now, the thumbs down.

Usually I agree with Steve Duin. He's a columnist for the Portland Oregonian who frequently writes about environmental issues and rips on DEQ when it deserves ripping.

But his "Once More Into the Metolius" didn't accurately describe the effort to save central Oregon's fragile Metolius River Basin from two large destination resorts.

Duin makes it sound like this is a personal crusade by two Democratic state senators, Betsy Johnson and Ginny Burdick — who own property along the Metolius.

That isn't true.

Central Oregon Landwatch, Friends of the Metolius, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and many others — including the vast majority of those who live full-time in Camp Sherman and the surrounding area — are supporting legislation that would designate the Metolius Basin an "area of critical state concern."

As permitted under state law, as I explained in this post, which gave another thumbs-down to an Oregonian editorial about the Metolius that also got its facts wrong.

So the effort to save the Metolius from destination resorts isn't an end-run around Oregon's land use laws. It is making use of them to preserve one of the state's natural treasures. Which is what countless Oregonians want, not just a few legislators.